wedluxe

so...everyone pretty much knows i've been working for liz this summer doing weddings with her. it's been pretty much the bomb experience actually..so much so, that i'm working for her next summer too - she's booked a ton of weddings so far, so we'll be busy..!

anywhoooo..this last august we went to whistler to shoot an extraordinary wedding - erika and dave - and she submitted it to wedluxe, canada's luxury wedding magazine. she gives them 100+ photos to use, they write about the wedding, etc. her submission was accepted and liz calls me the other night..it went kinda like this:

liz - hey i got the new wedluxe.
trace - sweet. how does your wedding look?
liz - good..they chose one of your shots for the main photo.
trace - are you freaking kidding me?
liz - no i'm not. i feel bad, your name isn't anywhere.
trace - hello, i work for you..its your wedding, why should my name be on it? besides..i'll tell everyone i know that my shot is in there so that's enough advertising for me.. :)

and so here i am..tooting my own horn..it's kinda crazy really.. giggle.. :)
but ya.. kinda cool.

so thanks liz..for letting me work for you..allowing me to shadow you and always learning so much from you..and, of course, accepting my cheeseballness.. ;)
and thanks dad..for buying that one hour photo and that being my first job..and it leading the way for what i love doing today.

to liz and dad..cheers!!

deering island & spanish banks

i had NO idea about deering island.
not that i should have.

but i found it by accident.

i drove a friend to the airport, and on my way home i decided that i was NOT in the mood to be in my house and wanted to go shoot SOMETHING.
so i went driving. i found myself off of granville street and marine drive.
then i went south on those roads you never go down and came upon deering island.
it is it's own little island with a street down the middle and houses on both sides of the street, their back yards with a wharf for your boat. hello crazy cool...hello crazy $$$$ too!

then i drove around to spanish banks..one of my favorite beaches. there was frost on the beach..was so cool.

so i got out and took some random stuff.

sheila's jewelry

i met a lady thru 1st canadian barter who makes amazing jewelry.
she asked me to take some photos of some of her pieces, as she is building a website. she is such a great lady. she is also a writer, so has been affected by the writers strike. bugger.

nonetheless we had fun as i set up my lights/lightbox in her basement entry and arranged and shot her pieces..

here's a few of her pieces of art..

our wonderful neighbors

we have been extremely blessed to have some amazing neighbors on either side of us.

today i had the opportunity to photograph the ones on the west of us, who caleb & rosie play with and just love!

here's their family photos..and you'll notice, they're expecting another very soon! be sure to watch for some newborn shots that i'll steal i go meet the little bundle in jan! :)

meet the graham's..my clients, our neighbors, our friends.. :)

happy birthday to you, eristotle..

erin, or eristotle as i fondly call her, is my very best friend (aside from the obvious one, my lover) :)

november 20th was her birthday. and i decided we needed to make a big deal about it..her last birthday in the twenties!! so we went for dinner to the noodle box - totally amazing restaurant..go!! - and then went to calhoun's for dessert.

chuckle..the funny part of the evening wasn't that we all put our chopsticks in our mouth like crazy women. nor was it when i decided in calhoun's that i would stand up on my chair and try to get the entire restaurant to sing happy birthday with me to her (side note: no one really sang..quite embarrasing really, altho there were some people smiled appropriately..no one has balls anymore, i tell ya). and it wasn't the fact that lani, our friend, and i had everyone in our party believing that lani had a secret lover and we had everyone trying to guess who on earth it was. no, the funniest thing was that i really thought that the restaurant was only a couple blocks from the place we were to eat dessert... "so let's just walk there" i said. and so we walked.

and walked. and walked. and walked.

well 40 minutes of walking later, we arrived there. nothing like walking off your supper to make room for your dessert! giggle.

nonetheless, it was a memorable birthday i'm certain.

happy birthday best friend. you are the greatest.
xoxo

our christmas tree of memories..

i am SO behind this year..usually the first or second weekend in nov i've got my tree up.. the days got away on us..so here we are..the 19th.

we had fun.. we always do. :)

the kids talk the whole time, finding "their" ornaments. the tree is full of every ornament; kids' ornaments they get from grandma and myself every year..ones from school...some from when we first were married..some from when we lived inthe philippines..some my mom used to have on her tree when i was a kid.. its a mismash (is that a word??) of assorted ornaments..no rhyme or reason..just everyone is from something..it's a tree full of memories really. super cool..

and it's a pretty good looking tree at that. :)

this is our first christmas in burnaby.. wow.. how time flies..

ah, montreal...

have you ever thought about a city that you found most enticing and would love to visit it someday? but put it in the "wish to visit someday" column in your mind?

that is what montreal was for me..

my friend darlene and i (along with my new travelling buddy, max the bear) were attending a conference in ottawa from wed, nov 14 to fri nov 16. we arrived in ottawa monday night..with the intention of driving ourselves to montreal tuesday and spend most of the day there..

it was...enchanting, to say the least..

we bought a map and with a few internet suggestions regarding "what to see in montreal in a day", we were off.

as we crossed over the "pont de i'lle aux tourtes" (dont ask what it means...)

we were entering the surrounding cities of montreal.. kinda cool.. also kinda felt like we were in a foreign land..french everywhere.. why didn't i pay attention in french class in high school!?!?? :)

side note - did you know that you can find le chateau and la senza in montreal? i know, it's unbelievable really. chuckle..

back to the story..

on our way into montreal, we saw st joseph's oratory - HUGE church - i have never seen a church so big. no time to go in, but took a pic from the car..unreal.

our first stop was parc du mont royal - said to have the most outstanding views of montreal. so we hiked a bit..nothing like prepping ourselves for the day's journey via our feet!

well it was amazing..the views were breathtaking..and the squirrels were overpopulated! :)

onward to vieux montreal - or, old montreal. it was stunning..

we journeyed the whole afternoon in and out of streets, amazing shops such as nicolin and gublin, had lunch at a big indian buffet, maharaja - i know, we are addicted to indian cuisine..sue us. :) - saw where the montreal canadiens play, lots of old churches, the cobblestone streets...it was WOW. the day was coming to an end, as the sun began to set, and the setting for photos was exquisite.

we ended our day at a cafe starbucks coffee.. oh ya, that's what i'm talking about. :) it was precious really.

ah, montreal..i will go back..and ingest it a little longer..thank you god for the cool opportunity last week, however, to go and see another amazing part of this country of mine..

and next time, i will bring my lover. :)

montreal 2007 - click for some of my favorite shots..

my baby sister is graduating...

so i have a sister.
if you at all follow my blog, you may know this.
her and her beau, james, came out in the summer to vancouver. we shot some photos of them together..good times.

my baby sister, also known as kristal (or for me, her nickname from when she was really little is "beek") is graduating this year.
yes she is 18 years younger than me. it's the coolest thing really.

anyhow, i took her grad photos when i was out in kelowna the first weekend in november. we had an amazing shoot. pretty much the sweetest grad photos i've taken. :) being that she is so beautiful made it a breeze..we're a great pair - beauty and the brains.. :)

enjoy some of my faves...
we started off at the kelowna actor's studio, where she spends lots of time, as she is an actress/dancer.. then we went across to the library, had a week walk in the COLD along the lake, a wee jog thru city park and ended up in the fall leaves on the greenway. it was amazing.
ya there are a lot..but hey...1)it's my sister and 2) it's my blog and i can post however many photos i want on there.. :)

happy graduation, beek!